The terminal device must allow a jointed connection between the end of the cable and the control member. For this purpose the terminal device, which is usually assembled on the control member, for example at one end of the gear shift lever, has a spherical seat into which the ball head of a pin attached to one end of the operating cable is to be snap-engaged. A releasable connection between the cable and the control member is thus achieved.
German Patent Application DE 198 13 721 A1, for example, discloses a terminal device designed to reduce the force required to insert the ball head of the pin associated to the control lever into the spherical seat formed in the hollow terminal, without thereby reducing the disassembly force and so risking causing the ball head to disengage from its seat during operation. To this end, this known device comprises:                an outer body connected to the operating cable by a connection rod and having an opening arranged perpendicularly to the rod;        a ball headed pin assembled on the end of the control lever;        a sleeve inserted into the opening of the outer body and having at least two first recesses and two second recesses defining a first position and a second position, respectively;        a bush slidably mounted in the sleeve and having a spherical seat for accommodating the ball head of the pin; the bush being provided with elastic catches for engaging in the recesses of the sleeve in order to lock the bush in the abovementioned two positions inside the cavity of the terminal body.        
With the bush in the first position, the spherical seat can expand, because of the presence of slits, to snap-engage the ball head of the pin. When the bush is moved into the second position, the whole portion of bush forming the spherical seat is contained in the sleeve inside the terminal body, and is therefore now unable to expand to allow the ball head to disengage from its seat.
According to this known arrangement, therefore, the terminal can adopt a pre-assembled condition, in which the ball head is received in the associated seat in the bush, and the bush is held in the terminal body by its own catches engaging in the abovementioned first recesses. During assembly, however, this represents a disadvantage, because if a terminal is left in the pre-assembled condition it can erroneously be assumed by the operator to be in the final assembled condition, with the inevitable consequence that the cable will come out of the control member as soon as the cable is operated in normal use.